An evaluation was implemented over a 3-year period to assess a statewide financial capability program for low-income, diverse clientele in Michigan. Pre- and post- program evaluation data was used to determine knowledge gain and intended behavior change. Follow-up evaluation data confirmed behavior changes across 10 financial practices. Using the…

Increasing enrollment in undergraduate and graduate economics courses that focus on the natural world (natural resource, environmental, energy, and mineral economics) is important for preparing a work force capable of addressing complex environmental issues. This is especially challenging for smaller universities that want to offer diverse…

Using school level data we examine which factors influence charter school location decisions. We augment previous research by employing a panel dataset, recently developed geographic techniques to measure distances and define areas, and employing a hurdle model to deal with the excess zero problem. The main results of our research indicate that,…

This paper provides examples of Aid-to-Thought uses in urban decision making, classroom laboratory planning, and in a ship antiaircraft defense system. Aid-to-Thought modeling and simulations are tools students can use effectively in a STEM classroom while meeting Standards for Technological Literacy Benchmarks O and R. These projects prepare…

This resource is part of a series of reports about challenges facing statewide science assessments and innovative solutions states are enacting to meet those challenges. Deciding to implement a system of assessments is a critical step toward ensuring that all students are getting the high-quality science education they need--but it is also…

In September of 2007, the Michigan Department of Education introduced a program referred to as seat time waivers to a few school districts in Michigan to pilot. During the 2009-2010 school year, 999 students were on seat time waivers with a total of 5070 classes taken by these students. While the number of online learners continues to grow…

The development of trauma-informed child welfare systems (TICWSs) that advance individual agency practice to target transformation of the system as a whole has been conceptualized but not documented. A grassroots effort to build a TICWS with key participants (e.g., Department of Human Services, Community Mental Health, Family Court, schools) in…

The 3 most often-used performance measures in the cognitive and decision sciences are choice, response or decision time, and confidence. We develop a random walk/diffusion theory--2-stage dynamic signal detection (2DSD) theory--that accounts for all 3 measures using a common underlying process. The model uses a drift diffusion process to account…

Examines how varying wealth and varying certainty of wealth influences budgetary decision making in (Michigan) school districts. Despite differences in revenues, balance, implementation, and process, there was little variation in the way districts spent their money. Budget implementation is most affected by lack of wealth. Certainty of wealth is…

The needs assessment model developed in the Lansing School District has the advantages of encouraging decentralized educational decision-making at the building level including program budgeting and personnel assignments, of providing a system for community input, and of providing a commonality of student goals and objectives between all buildings.…

System-wide school decentralization is now implemented both in New York City and in Detroit. It is important, therefore, to inquire into alternative explanations of the origins of the school decentralization movement with a view to constructing models of school organizational behavior and change which may have utility either to other school…

Reports on a study of the perceptions of 42 top- and middle-level administrators at 4 community colleges concerning the planning models and decision-making processes used at their college. Reports that both rural colleges relied on a consensus model, whereas the two urban colleges used autocracy and rational models respectively. (DMM)

This report presents an overview of Project CDCC (Career Development Centered Curriculum), a curriculum-based career development program for students in grades K-6. The program's purpose, approach, definitions, and model are described. The approach stresses integrating career awareness with existing subject matter as well as building into the…

This document presents the final recommendations and background papers of a task force empowered by the Michigan legislature to consider the mission and roles of the state community colleges, alternative funding modes, and the responsibilities and interrelationships of the state and local governing boards. Following an overview of recommendations…

As one of the components of the career development curriculum materials for Michigan schools, this guide contains objectives for the career development of students in three grade-level clusters. The objectives are categorized according to grades K-3, 4-6, 7-9. For each of these levels, objectives are grouped into four subject areas: self-awareness…